[yellowtail] & Domino’s – the Anti-Valentine’s Day menu

” www.yellowtailwine.com: [yellow tail] is now regarded as a global phenomenon. Exports are a little over 11 million cases per annum and over 2 million glasses of [yellow tail] are enjoyed around the world each day ” ….stats from the press kit I received the other day.

Those are some statistics. I have to admit, I haven’t had [yellow tail] since I don’t know when. Some of you may recall my run in with Jacob’s Creek this past November so you know Australia is not really my go to place for wine but when I was approached to try [yellow tail] in a promotion linked with Domino’s, I thought, why not? I mean, I have reviewed Australian wine in a box ( not really what I’m looking for but I can see it’s appeal) and I try to keep an open mind and remember that the average wine drinker does get most of their wine from the supermarket shelves and isn’t usually invited to vertical tastings of vintage champagne every week. Ok, maybe every other week 🙂

Domino’s and [yellow tail] are running a tongue-in-check Valentine’s Day take-away promotion. A kind of anti-Valentine’s day promo. Why go out and spend loads of dosh on overpriced, lovey-dovey menus when you can stay at home and avoid the queues, crowds and sickeningly in love couples who can’t seem to keep their tongues out of each others mouths.

the menu

What they’ve done is matched 4 pizzas with 4 of [yellowtail]’s wines. At first I was a bit hesistant about the whole idea but as James (the same one who supplied a Grand Puy La Coste 1986 magnum for Christmas dinner and helped me with this little experiment) pointed out, it showed that Domino’s and [yellow tail] had actually taken the time to help the consumer with a bit of food and wine matching.

It’s the ‘Play by your rules’ menu and it’s 4 matches of pizza and [yellow tail], Texas BBQ with merlot, Veg-o-roma with pinot grigio, Hawaiian with chardonnay and Pepperoni Passion with Cabernet Sauvignon. Being a card carrying member of the carnivore club, I went for the pepperoni pizza. What did we think? First of all, Domino’s has improved their pizza recipe, way better then Pizza Hut (sorry, Pizza Hut but you guys have gone downhill). Lots of cheese and crispy pepperoni, just the way I like it. The cabernet they matched it with went perfectly well, easy, uncomplicated, quite fruity – lots of blackberry in there, a slightly bubble gummy taste but remember, this is a wine that retails for £5.99 not £35.99, and down my gullet it went. We didn’t try to overanalyze it, just drink it.

The best match was dessert, chocolate fondant cake. The wine and cake going quite well together with a nice mocha finish. All in all, not bad matches all round. I don’t often buy wine in the supermarkets but I’d grab a bottle of [yellow tail] if I was planning on ordering pizza in and it’s an excellent way to spend this Sunday nite. I wonder what’s gonna be on TV…..

[yellow tail] available from all major supermarkets and Domino’s is everywhere……

So funny! Yellow Tail are going all out for V-day! I was driving and getting Sirius-ly “Cosmolicious” and they kept playing these ads for their cocktail. In the a.m. I was all “Ewwwww!” THen by the late afternoon it had started to grow on me…not that I am running out to buy a bottle of Yellow tail sparkler, and mix with cranberry juice, vanilla syrup and pear vodka. Wow! Now sounding kinda good..gotta jet…;)

Yellow tail sparkler?? You guys are so much more advanced then your poor European cousins. All we got is the regular ol still table wine. So, how was it? I have a hard time thinking of Ozzie sparklers as being any good. On the other hand, if you make a cocktail out of it, as you seem to be doing, might not be so bad…. 😉